A soaring, vibrant Thunderbird hangs above the crowd gathered in a pastel blue ballroom adorned with gold. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip gaze back over her colony from a portrait across the room. Her people have gathered to reflect on a question that, judging by contrast between the traditional portraits encasing the room, will be difficult to articulate: How is your writing ‘Canadian?’
For every ceremony honouring the talents of Canadian artists, Rideau Hall organizes an Arts Matters forum to reflect on the challenges facing culture in our society and how art is received by society.
For the 43rd installment, Michaëlle Jean, the Governor General of Canada and her husband Jean-Daniel Lafond attempted to verbalize the distinguishing elements of Canadian literature.
But on the eve of the Governor General’s Literary Awards to honour the nation’s most talented authors, they couldn’t come up with a distinct answer.
They discussed the English and French language divide, and the rich history of First Nations peoples. They praised Canada’s diversity, and spoke of its many myths and legends. But they failed to pinpoint the stylistic elements that differentiate Canadian literature from the rest of the world.
That is because there is no distinguishable answer. Concluding that it’s writing that makes reference to maple leaves or moose would have been too obvious because Canadian writing is so much more than its stereotypes.
Lafond suggested what is created in Canada, creates Canada itself. His statement is true but limiting. Canadian literature knows no borders.
Take, for example, the work of two of the award winners.
Kate Pullinger won the prize for best fiction. She lives in the United Kingdom. Her book is set in 1960s Egypt. Her writing is still Canadian, she says, because through the lens of her childhood she sees landscapes of her childhood – of British Columbia, Vancouver Island and the Rocky Mountains.
Caroline Pignat won best prize for children’s literature. Her story is set in Ireland, which is also her homeland.But it is still relevant, she says, because many Irish people emigrated to Canada, and her characters are set on the hardworking and spirited people who were the ancestors of thousands of today’s Canadians.
Examples of great and essentially Canadian writing extends beyond the awards, too.
Yann Martel’s Life of Pi details the life of an Indian boy who ends up in Canada and his lifetime experience with Catholicism, Islam and Hinduism.
The first Canadian to receive the Mann Booker Prize was Sri Lankan-Canadian Michael Ondaatji for The English Patient, set in World War II Italy around the lives of an Englishman, a Canadian, an Italian and an Indian.
What makes writing ‘Canadian?’ It’s simple. It is writing done by a Canadian. The list of literature that extends beyond our borders, but remains distinguishably Canadian goes on, but the point is, Canadian literature has outgrown the question itself.
There is no limit to its potential, and it cannot be described in a few words. Canadian authors, even if they don’t write about their country, will always be inspired by the elements that make Canada eminent – even moose and maple syrup.